Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex crashed by 288 points and the NSE Nifty dipped below 8,600 mark in early trade as investors cut down their bets, tracking a weak trend in global market after a new US presidential poll showed Donald Trump ahead of market favourite Hillary Clinton.

The 30-share barometer plunged 288.06 points or 1.03 percent at 27,588.55 with all the sectoral indices led by metal, realty and oil in the negative zone, falling by up to 1.73 percent. It had lost 64.90 points in the previous two sessions.

On similar lines, the NSE Nifty cracked below 8,600-level by dropping 94.75 points or 1.10 percent to 8,531.50.

Brokers said market mood took a hit largely in tandem with global sell-off sparked by an opinion poll that put Donald Trump slightly ahead of his democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the US presidential race.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 1.32 per cent, Shanghai's Composite index fell 0.49 per cent while Japan's Nikkei shed 1.39 per cent in their early trade.

Meanwhile, the US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.58 per cent lower in yesterday's trade.